Petey Halpin’s two-run homer lifts Guardians to 3-2 win, 2-1 ALCS lead
Petey Halpin hit a go-ahead two-run homer and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Halpin’s shot was his first postseason home run and the Guardians received five more strong innings from starter Gavin Williams as Cleveland improved to five wins in their last six playoff games since falling 2-0 to the Chicago White Sox in the AL Division Series. José Ramírez collected two hits and Nathaniel Lowe drove in a run for Cleveland. Game 4 is scheduled for Friday, though rain is forecast.
Williams struck out nine over five innings while allowing two runs and walking one. He is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 16 and two-thirds innings in four postseason appearances this year, including three starts. Williams did not allow a baserunner and struck out five the first time through the order.
The Guardians bullpen retired 11 of the final 12 Rays batters, and Cleveland retired 16 of the Rays’ final 17 batters overall. Relievers Daniel Espino, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith combined to allow just one baserunner over the final four innings; Smith stranded a runner at third in the eighth when he struck out Yandy Díaz after a 10-pitch at-bat and then retired the side in order in the ninth.
Tampa Bay’s lineup struggled with strikeouts: Rays hitters struck out 13 times in Game 3 after combining for 14 in the first two games of the series, and Junior Caminero struck out four times. The Rays went down in order in seven innings during the contest.
The scoring began in the second when Nathaniel Lowe opened with an RBI double that bounced off the right-field fence and past Victor Mesa Jr. Chandler Simpson gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with a two-run triple in the fourth. In the fifth, Patrick Bailey led off with a chopper that pitcher Griffin Jax was unable to field cleanly, and on the next at-bat Halpin connected on an elevated 95.9mph sinker on a 2-2 count, driving it 385ft into the right-center-field stands to put Cleveland ahead 3-2.
Halpin’s homer was the fifth of his two-year major league career. Jax allowed three runs on five hits and two walks in four-plus innings and had not allowed a homer since 9 September, a span of five appearances.
The Guardians now lead the ALCS 2-1; Game 4 is scheduled for Friday with rain in the forecast.